County
Meetings on Public School Funding – School officials and community
members in Cumberland County are invited to join a community meeting about
public school funding on Wednesday, April 1, at 7:00 p.m. (Camp Hill).
Local school district leaders will discuss how state funding issues are
impacting children's educational opportunities, local taxes, and communities.
Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn how to support
fair and adequate state funding for their respective county's schools. All state
lawmakers who represent these counties have been invited to attend to learn
about challenges facing area schools. The events are hosted by Education Voters
of PA and supported by the Campaign for Fair Education Funding, a state
coalition working to ensure that all students have access to a quality
education, no matter where they live. PASA, along with PASBO, PARSS, PSBA and
PAIU, assisted in organizing these forums. Click herefor more information.

Senate
Take on Budget Talks – Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers
are maintaining a hardline stance against Gov. Tom Wolf’s Marcellus Shale
severance tax proposal, saying they won’t discuss a tax until bills dealing with
pensions and liquor privatization are settled. And with Mr. Wolf’s proposal to
use a severance tax to reinvest in education being a campaign cornerstone, the
stage is set for legislative horse trading this spring. “Voters elected him, and
Pennsylvania understands this issue,” said John Hanger, Mr. Wolf’s director of
planning and policy. “We are interested in good faith negotiation and
conversation about the details. But we need a drilling tax.” Drew Crompton,
chief of staff for state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, the Senate president
pro tempore said pensions must be dealt with first. “We’re going to pick up the
pension bill in April,” Mr. Crompton said. “Then we would be willing to talk
about the need for new revenue.” Read the rest of the story: “Pennsylvania Lawmakers Dig In on
Natural Gas Severance Tax”(from The Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, 3/24/15).

Pension Reform –

Use of
Money Managers: Leaders
of Pennsylvania's two major public employee pension funds defended their heavy
use of outside investment managers in budget hearings Monday at the Capitol.
The issue comes up in the context of demands by Gov. Tom Wolf, as part of his
2015-16 budget proposal, to cut the outside management fees at the funds by
$1.3 billion over the next five years. That's a proposed cut of about 40
percent based on current year levels, accomplished largely by shifting more
assets into low-cost index funds, also called passive funds. Nothing was
finalized about this issue in Monday's hearings, which also featured heavy
doses of political lobbying by lawmakers in favor of or opposition to their
preferred plan designs. But responses from fund leaders to the outside manager
strategy go to show the complexity of Pennsylvania's pension issue. Read
the rest of the story: “Pa.’s State Pension Fund
Leaders Defend Use of Outside Money Managers”(from The
Patriot-News, 3/23/15).

Pension
Reform First, Budget Second: Senate Republican leader Jake Corman said
Monday that there will be no new state budget until Pennsylvania recasts its
two statewide pension systems in ways Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf opposes.
“Pensions is the budget,” Mr. Corman, R-Centre, told a luncheon of the
Pennsylvania Press Club. “We’re not doing a budget without it. We can’t. It’s
been like a tsunami. It’s been nice — it’s sort of a pretty wave when it’s
hundreds of miles out there, but when it hits land, it causes a lot of damage.
Well, this one’s hit land, and it’s time to deal with it.” Mr. Corman supports
enrolling future state and public school workers in 401(k)-style,
defined-contribution retirement plans. He said he also believes the state
could make changes to the future benefits of some current workers. Read the
rest of the story: “Senate Leader Links Pension
Overhaul, Vote on New Budget”(from The Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, 3/24/15).

Property
Tax: RIP – In their
latest online
Politically Uncorrected™
column, G. Terry Madonna and
Michael L. Young of Franklin & Marshall College write, “Governors propose and
legislatures dispose. That particular political adage could be one that Tom
Wolf, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, might ponder as he begins the
likely lengthy process of steering his budget and tax proposals through the
state’s Republican dominated legislature. Wolf’s budget proposes major tax
restructuring designed to reduce Pennsylvania’s property tax burden by 50
percent on the average taxpayer. But if 50 percent, why not 100 percent - why
settle for half a loaf? Why not get rid of the property tax for school funding
altogether?” Read the rest of the story: “RIP: School Property Tax.”

In
Legislative News…

Legislative Schedule – The Senate finishes its budget
hearings this week and will return to session on April 13. The House has
concluded its budget hearings and returns to Harrisburg for three days of
session this week.

This
Week’s House Floor Calendar – The House this week may consider
HB 400.
The bill establishes the “Work Experience for High School Students with
Disabilities” Act.

House
Urban Affairs: to
consider HB 11(requires all
financially struggling political subdivisions, including school districts, to
engage in training regarding the use of lean government practices)

House
State Government: to consider HB 342(amends the
Pennsylvania Election Code to clarify that all candidates for the office of
school director will be required to submit 25 signatures for nomination)

Wednesday,
April 1:

House
Education: to consider
HB 423(provides immunity to
school bus drivers who administer epinephrine to students suffering allergic
reactions in compliance with school district policy and training)

House
Agricultural & Rural Affairs: to consider HB 806(amends the
Pennsylvania Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act – Clean and Green – to
prohibit the application of use values that result in assessments higher than
fair market values)

House
Local Government: to consider HB 823(makes some revisions
to Act 164 of 2014, which provides for training and additional qualifications
for tax collectors and the appointment of a deputy tax collector)

Upcoming
Committee Meetings –

Joint
Legislative Budget & Finance Committee, April 15: to release a report on the
feasibility of alternative methods of authorizing charter schools

Basic
Education Funding Committee, April 27: to hold a final hearing (University
of Pittsburgh)

Special
Election – Republican
Martina White defeated Democrat Sarah Del Ricci last Tuesday in a special
election to fill an open seat from the 170th District (Philadelphia)
in the Pennsylvania House. The seat was formerly held by Brendan Boyle, who is
now serving in Congress.

In State News…

School
Accountability and Test Scores – Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf intends
to steer the state away from school accountability measures that he says place
too great an emphasis on standardized test scores. Details of the new plan have
not yet been released. Wolf says the state's existing accountability tool — the
School Performance Profile — doesn't provide parents with a comprehensive view
of school performance. "Education is a full and holistic process. We've reduced
it to a bunch of high-stakes tests that don't seem to me to be tied to the
specific, comprehensive skills that we want students to have," said Wolf at a
recent interview in the governor's Philadelphia office. Read the rest of the
story: “Pa. Gov.
Wolf Says School Ratings Should Be Less Tied to Tests”(from Keystone
Crossroads, 3/24/15).

Across the State…

Fasting for
Public Education –
While Gov. Tom Wolf negotiates with the state Legislature in the coming months
to get an increase in state funding for schools, religious leaders and others
across the state will be fasting for the same purpose. Local clergy who are
members of the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network held a news conference and
prayer service Monday morning outside of Wilkinsburg High School to call for
fasts between now and June 30, the date by which the Legislature is supposed to
have an approved 2015-16 budget. They said they chose Wilkinsburg because it is
one of the most underfunded districts in the state and its students suffer from
a lack of resources. Read the rest of the story:
“Pittsburgh-area Religious Leaders Urge Fasting for Public Education”
(from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/23/15).

York City
Receivership –
Attorneys for the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the York City School
District have reached an agreement to end the state's months-long push for
control of the district. The proposal, which was filed late Tuesday and awaits
court approval, calls for the state Department of Education to withdraw its
petition to appoint a receiver - a person who would have most of school board's
powers. Read the rest of the story: “Lawyers
File Application to End Receivership Case Against the York City School District”(from ydr.com,
3/25/15).

In National News…

Legislation
on Student Data –

Plan to
Protect Student Data: Is
the digital revolution in the classroom giving the education technology industry
carte blanche to exploit student data? That was the question some teacher and
parents groups have posed in their public responses to the news last week that
Pearson, the education publisher, had been covertly monitoring social media
sites to identify students who might have disclosed questions from its
assessment tests. In an effort to ease parent and teacher concerns, two
congressmen are planning to introduce a bill on Monday that would place limits
on how education technology companies can use information about kindergarten
through 12th-grade students. Read the rest of the story: “Bill
Would Limit Use of Student Data”(from The New York
Times, 3/22/15). Push-Back on the Student-Data Protection Plan:
Introduction of a bill intended to establish a new level of federal involvement
in the protection of K-12 students' privacy has been delayed following criticism
that lawmakers fell well short of creating the strong national law for which
advocates hoped. On Monday, U.S. Reps. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Luke Messer,
R-Ind., were poised to introduce the "Student Digital Privacy and Parental
Rights Act," developed in close consultation with the White House. But
after critical press reports and concern from privacy advocates about the scope
and rigor of a near-final draft of the bill, the lawmakers decided to hold off.
A revised version of the proposed legislation is now expected to be made public
later this week. Read the rest of the story: “Federal
Student-Data-Privacy Bill Delayed Following Criticism”(from Education Week,
3/23/15).

The Gap
Between School and Work – Finding new ways to engage students
is critical in an economy that continues to be a challenge for some job seekers.
Nearly all of the 2.6 million new, livable wage jobs expected to be added by
2017 will require some form of post-secondary education, but not necessarily a
bachelor's degree according to a USA TODAY analysis of jobs data in the 125
largest metros. About 1.8 million of those jobs are STEM or high-paying blue
collar positions, the data from Economic Modeling Specialists International and
CareerBuilder show. Meeting these challenges of the new economy is critical, and
the typical college prep system isn't working, proponents say. Read the rest
of the story: “Closing
the Gap Between School and Work”(from USA Today,
3/23/15).

The Art of
Teaching –

Value of
Teacher Experience: The
notion that teachers improve over their first three or so years in the
classroom and plateau thereafter is deeply ingrained in K-12 policy
discussions, coming up in debate after debate about pay, professional
development, and teacher seniority, among other topics. But findings from a
handful of recently released studies are raising questions about that
proposition. In fact, they suggest the average teacher's ability to boost
student achievement increases for at least the first decade of his or her
career—and likely longer. Read the rest of the story: “New
Studies Find That, For Teachers, Experience Really Does Matter”(from Education
Week, 3/24/15).

The
Teaching Profession: An influential language arts teacher who recently won
a $1 million international teaching prize has some surprising advice for young
people considering joining the profession: Don't. "Public school teachers are
so constrained right now by the common core standards and the tests that are
developed to monitor what teachers are doing with them," said Nancie Atwell,
who has been teaching reading and writing for 42 years and has written several
prominent books on language arts instruction. "If you're a creative, smart
young person, I don't think this is the time to go into teaching unless an
independent school would suit you." Read the rest of the story: “Don’t
Become a Teacher, Advises Award-Winner Nancie Atwell”(from Education
Week, 3/23/15).

Digitizing
Instruction – The
K-12 market has shifted significantly from print to digital over the past
several years, with digital content and devices now occupying 37 percent of all
sales to school districts, according to a recent analysis by Education Market
Research. The company’s research is based on a survey of publishers and ed-tech
companies nationwide, meant to explore digital education trends. (from a story
published in Education Week, 3/26/15)

Across the Nation…

Kansas:
Funding – The fight
over how much to spend on Kansas' public schools—and how that money gets
spent—appears ready to enter the next stage of a long-running battle, now that
the state legislature has approved a plan to ditch the state's K-12 funding
formula and replace it with block grants for districts. The switch to a block
grant system, created by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, could face a
swift challenge from the legal system, however. A few days before the plan
gained final approval last week, a panel of state district court judges said it
might bar the plan from being implemented because of previous rulings in a
school finance lawsuit that dates back to 2010. Read the rest of the story:
“Fight
Looms in Kansas on Funding K-12 Education Via Block Grants”(from Education Week,
3/24/15).